Attitude responsive device for craft



Oct. 17, 1939. G. WUNSCH ATTITUDE RESPONSIVE DEVICE FOR CRAFT Filed Nov. 8, 1937 y mr... 2 H w og bum g H 2 5 1 I- 1. 3 .F \m T 1 5 /W 3 a www 3 a T l w I w n s v HeeeLLe Uatue Patented Oct. 17, 1939 PA ENT' oer-ice ATTITUDE RESPONSIVE FOR CRAFT Guido Wiinsch, Berlin-Steglitz, elm. assignor to Askania-Werke A. G., a corporation Application November 8, 1931, Serial No. 113,544 In Germany November 9, 193d Clalms.

This invention relates to attitude responsive devices for craft, more particularly to devices for determining the true vertical direction. v

This invention aims at providing for movable 5 craft such as aircraft, ships, submarines, and the like, a simple and reliable instrument for deter mining the true vertical direction irrespective of acceleration forces acting on the device in the direction of travel of the craft or at anangle l0 thereto and hereinafter referred to as ballistic forces.

To illustrate an object of this invention it may be assumed that for determining the true vertical direction a pendulous mass be mounted on board aircraft -free to oscillate parallel to the" longitudinal axis of the craft. It may be assumed that the longitudinal axis of the craft on which the pendulum is mounted be inclined with a respect to the horizontal to cause the airplane to descend at an increasing rate of'speed. The pensufliciently great to maintain the pendulum in aposition relatively to the craft which it assumed during normal horizontal flight thereby deceiving the pilot about the true attitude of the craft. The

- acceleration force may even be great enough to I overcome the action of the gravitational force to some extent and cause the pendulum to assume a position normally indicative of climbing.

It is accordingly an object of this invention to provide a reliable attitude responsive device by combination of a pendulous mass with means responsive to linear accelerations to compensate the pendulum against ballistic forces which would introduce a positional error into the device.

Further aims, objects, and advantages of this invention will appear irom a consideration of the description and the accompanying drawing showing for purely illustrative purposes an embodiment of this invention. It is to be understood, however, that the description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, the scope or this invention being defined in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of a devic for indicating lateral inclination of a cratti Fig. 2 is diagrammatic illustration of a device responsive to longitudinal inclination of a craft.

Fig. 3 is a modified form of the device shown in Fig. 2.

. a graduated scale it is pivoted at it and connected to be operated by thependulous mass It by means of a motion'transmitting connection. In the illustrated example there is shown a double w armed lever it connected to the pendulum and the pointer by links ii and it, respectively. The other arm 01' the lever i6 is pivotally connected to a rod I 9 connecting diaphragms 2B and 2 l. The

lever It thus constitutes a diil'erential connection tending to displace the pendulum fsom the true 20 vertical direction an acceleration responsive device is provided, in the illustrated embodiment shown as being of the fluid pressure type.

The diaphragm 20 connected to one end of the rod is is enclosed within a casing 22 separating 2 5 the latter'into chambers 23 and 24. The chamber 23 is connected to the dynamic pressure exerted by the fluid surrounding the craft by means of a. conduit 25 terminating in a port 26 located at the port-side of the bodyoi' the craft i2. The other chamber 24 is connected by means of a conduit 21 to acontainer 28 with a charge of compressible fluid such as air, gas, or the like. Both chambers are connected by means of a throttle preferably of the capillary type and indlcatedat 29 in 35 a connecting conduit 30.

A similar arrangement is provided for the starboard side oi the craft. The diaphragm 2| is enclosed for this purpose within a casing ll i'orming chambers 32 and 33 therewith. The chamber 40 I2 is connected by means of a conduit 34 to a port 35 located at the star-board side for receiving 1 the dynamic pressure oi the surrounding fluid exerted on this side. The second chamber 38 is connected by means of a conduit 36 to a container 45 31 likewise provided with a charge of compressible fluid. "Both diaphragm chambers 32' and 33 are in communication with each other through a throttle 18 in a conduit 88. The operation of each acceleration responsive 50 device is as follows:

A temporary variation in pressure at the port 26 such as would be caused by a side slip will create a flow in the conduit 26 through the chambers 23 and 24' into the container 28 compressing the 56 is restricted by the throttle 29= temporarily a,

greater pressure will exist in the chamber 23 which after some time will become equal to the pressure in the chamber 24 and the container 28, unless the pressure at 26 rises to a still greater magnitude. The time factor determining the lapse of time during which the pressures between chambers 23 and 24 become equalised is adjustable by means of the throttle 28.

When the rate of pressure change at 26 is small the action of the flow on the diaphragm 20 will be small as in this instance the relatively small flow will find no considerable resistance at the throttle 29. When the pressure change at 26 and, correspondingly, the flow through the conduit 25 is great the action of the flow on the diaphragm 20 will be great as the greater flow will require considerable time to find its way through the restricted passage at 28 creating a condition of differential pressure in the meantime. It therefore follows that the differential pressure acting on the diaphragm 20 is a function of the rate of the pressure change at 26. If the throttle 28 of the capillary type is employed the differential pressure will be linearly proportional to the flow through the conduit 25 and also to the rate of pressure change at the port 26.

The operation of the device shown in Fig. 1 will now be understood.

It may beassumed that the device be mounted on an airplane I 2 for indicating the lateral inclination, or bank, of the ship. Assuming further that the left wing of the airplane be tippedv downwardly .to bank the plane in the direction of the arrow 2 the indicator I3 is expected to move to the left in response to a clockwise movement of the pendulum l8. Inasmuch as a banked plane has the tendency to sideslip with increasing speed in the direction of the arrow 3 it follows that a ballistic force is exerted on the pendulous mass in the direction of the arrow 4 side slipping movement.

tending to move the same counter-clockwisely in opposition of the gravitational force. On account of the sideslip the dynamic pressure on the port 26, located at the port side of the craft will be increased, setting up' a flow through the conduit 25 in the hereinbefore described manner. The diaphragm 28 will accordingly be deflected to the left in' response to the rate of the The action of the diaphragm 28 is aided by the diaphragm 2| as follows:

On account of the side slipping-movement the pressure at the port 35 is decreased causing a flow of compressible pressure fluid from the chamber 31 through the throttle 38 and the conduit 34 into the surrounding air. on account of the resistance caused by the throttle 38 a differential pressure will again be created. acting on the diaphragm 2| causing the same to move the rod Hi to the left. The lower end of the double armed lever l6 will accordingly be moved a definite amount which can be made by proper adjustment of the apparatus to be equal to the deflection of the pendulous mass under the influence of the ballistic forces. The action 'of these forces on the movable'member I3 is thus compensated and the member is moved as though it were controlled by a pendulum unaffected by accelerations.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 2 a pendulous mass 48 is pivotally mounted at 4| for oscillating movement in a plane parallel to the di- 2,'17o,so7

rection of flight of the .craft indicated by an arrow 5. In this embodiment a movable member 42 in the form of a pressure fiuid relay of the well-known Ascania jet-pipe type is shown as connected to the pendulum for actuation by the latter. The Jet-pipe is pivoted at 43 and supplied with pressure fluid from a suitable source (not shown) The Jet-pipe issues a jet of pressure fluid into reception orifl'ces 44 and 45 for controlling in a well-known manner a-steering device 46 for actuating an elevator 41.

The acceleration responsive device of the pressure fluid type is connected to act on the movable member 42 in addition to the pendulous mass 48 to compensate for ballistic influences on the pendulum.

An orifice 48 receiving dynamic pressure exerted on the craft in the direction of arrows 6 is connected to a cylinder 49 containing a movable piston 58 dividing the cylinder into chambers 5i and52. Means .are provided for biasing the piston relatively to the cylinder into a predetermined position.

In the illustrated embodiment biasing springs- 53 and 54 are shown for this purpose. A- diaphragm 55 is enclosed within a casing 56 di-' The.

ber, the jet-pipe relay 42, by means of a rod 63 also connecting the relay with the pendulum 40.

The operation of the device shown in Fig. 2 is as follows:

It may be assumed that the craft I2 be inclined with respect to the horizontal to descend. Accordingly, the pendulum 48 is supposed to move clockwisely to displace the jet-pipe 42 to the right to register with the orifice of the conduit 45 and to actuate the elevator 41 accordingly. Since the plane descends at an increasing rate of speeds. ballistic force is exerted on the pendulous mass 48 in the direction of the arrow 1 counter-acting the gravitational force. The efiect of the ballistic force is now compensated as'follows:

The increasing rate of travel of the plane causes thedynamic pressure on the orifice 48 to increase, thereby moving the piston 58 to the right and setting up a flow through the conduit 58 into the diaphragm chambers 51 and 58. A differential pressure will accordingly be exerted on the diaphragm 55 which is a function of the accelera- I tion of the craft. Under the action of the differential pressure the diaphragm 55 moves the rod 63 to the right moving. the jet-pipe '43 to register with the orifice of the conduit 45 and counteracting the ballistic force acting on the pendulum. By proper adjustment of the throttle 62 the compensating action of the diaphragm 55 can easily be made to counteract disturbing'efi'ects of accelerations on the pendulum.

In Fig. 3 a modified form of the invention is shown in which the impulseproportional to the acceleration of the plane is derived in a difierent manner. The engine 64 for driving the craft is shown as connected to a blower 65 by means of a shaft 66, thereby causing the blower to create.

engine. The pressure created by the blower is conducted by means of a conduit 61 to act on one side of a differential pressure diaphragm 68, the other side of which is connected to be acted upon by the pressure inside a container 69 with a charge of compressible pressure fluid. Both sides of the diaphragm are connected over a variable throttle i0 preferably of the capillary type. A pendulous mass H pivoted at 12 is connected by means of a rod 13 with a movable member shown in the embodiment a pointer 14 cooperating with a graduated scale 15. The rod 13 further connects the diaphragm 68 with the movable member 14 and the pendulous mass H.

The operation of the device shown in Fig. 3 is as follows: v

It may be assumed that the craft on which the device is mounted is travelling in the direction of the arrow 8 and that the longitudinal axis of the craft is inclined with respect to the horizontal to cause the craft to descend. The pendulous mass will accordingly be again under the influence of the gravitational force tending to displace the pendulum in a clockwise direction while the ballistic force acts in the opposite direction. Due to the increase in speed of the craft the engine 64 will be accelerated resulting in an increase in pressure created by the blower 65. This increase in pressure results in a flow through the conduit 61 towards the container 69. Correspondingly a force is exerted on the differential pressure diaphragm 68.tending to move the same to the left and moving the pointer 14 in opposition to the ballistic force acting on the pendulous mass 1|.

Obviously the present invention is not restricted to the particular embodiment herein shown and described. Moreover it is not indispensable that all the features of this invention be used conjointly, since they may be advantageously employed in various combinations and subcombinations.

What is claimed is:

1. Attitude responsiveapparatus for craft com-- prising, in combination, a pendulous mass; means forming a chamber containing a charge of compressible fluid; a differential pressure responsive device connected to be differentially acted upon by changes in the dynamic pressure on the craft by the surrounding fluid relatively to the pressure inside said chamber; a constricted conduit bridging the two sides of said differential pressure responsive device; and means connecting said device to said mass to counteract the effects of ballistic forces thereon.

2. Attitude responsive apparatus for aircraft comprising, in combination, a pendulous mass mounted for oscillating movement transversely to the craft; a movable member actuated by said mass; a first container charged with air; a first differential pressure responsive device connected to be differentially acted upon by changes in the dynamic pressure on the starboard side of the craft by the surrounding air relatively to the pressure inside said first container; a first'conresponsive device connected to be differentially acted upon by changes in the dynamic pressure on the port side of the craft by the surrounding air relatively to the pressure inside said second container; a second constricted conduit bridging said second differential pressure responsive device; and means connecting said pressure responsive devices to said mass to counteract the effects of ballistic forces thereon.

3. Attitude responsive apparatus for aircraft comprising, in combination, a pendulous mass mounted for oscillating movement in the longitudinal direction of the craft; a movable member actuated by said mass; a cylinder; a piston movable in said cylinder and dividing said cylinder into a first and a second chamber, said first chamber being connected to be acted upon by the dynamic pressure on the craft by the surrounding air; means for biasing said piston relatively to said cylinder into a predeterminedposition; a

differential pressure responsive device connected to be differentially acted upon by the pressure inside the second chamber and by the static pressure of the surrounding air; a constricted conduit bridging said differential pressure responsive device; and means connecting said'device to said mass to counteract the effects of ballistic forces thereon.

4. Attitude responsive apparatus for aircraft comprising, in combination, means for creating a fluid pressure proportional to the speed of the aero engine; a pendulous mass; a movable member actuated by said mass; means forming a chamber containing a charge of compressible pressure fluid; a differential pressure responsive device connected to be differentially acted upon by the speed-proportional pressure and by the pressure inside said chamber; a constricted conduit bridging said differential pressure responsive device; and means connecting said device to said mass to counteract the effects of ballistic forces thereon.

5. In an attitude responsive apparatusfor craft, a pendulous mass; means forming a chamber containing a charge of compressible fiuid; a differential pressure responsive device connected to be differentially acted upon by changes in fluid pressure originated with linear accelerations of the craft relatively to the pressure inside said chamber; a constricted conduit bridging the two sides of said differential pressure responsive device; and means connecting said device with said .apparatus to counteract the effects of ballistic forces thereon.

GUIDO women. 

